<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Beauty in Being Beholden by Aleique</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559941">Beauty in Being Beholden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleique/pseuds/Aleique'>Aleique</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, No Romance, Or minimal I should say, Polyjuice Potion, Self-Discovery, Unrequited Crush</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:08:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,401</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleique/pseuds/Aleique</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you use the hair of a Metamorphmagus in Polyjuice Potion?</p>
<p>Or: What began as a research question but soon became more of an addictive habit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nymphadora Tonks &amp; Charlie Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Beauty in Being Beholden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! Here's just the first chapter of a cute and fluffy Charlie &amp; Tonks fic. Well, starts out as cute and fluffy, will be a little less so by the end. I'll be updating weekly-every other week-ish until completion!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What would happen if someone tried to polyjuice into you?” Charlie asked her, as he twirled a strand of her - currently dark magenta, curly, and a length that just skimmed the tops of her shoulders - hair. </p>
<p>The two of them were resting on the grass by the Great Lake, enjoying the last days of summer before they left Hogwarts forever. It was late morning and so the temperature was relatively cool and crisp still, despite it being June. The sunlight reflected on the waters of the Great Lake into tiny fractals that chose opportune moments to glare into students’ eyes. Tonks had summoned a picnic blanket, and Charlie had somehow bribed the House Elves into supplying them with a small picnic basket to go with it. To an outsider who was not in the know regarding Hogwarts gossip, it might have looked like a date, but they had repeatedly sworn up and down to the Hogwarts student body that “we’re not like that”. </p>
<p>Tonks forced herself to think about replying to Charlie’s question, rather than focusing on the feel of his hand against her neck. “I don’t know,” she responded inadequately, after giving it some thought. Potions had never been her strongest subject, and she only took it to NEWT level to meet the requirements for the Auror Academy. She gave Charlie a look that by now, Charlie was well familiar with, and meant he should run far away while he still had a chance. “We could find out,” Tonks dared him.</p>
<p>Charlie raised an eyebrow, “With what polyjuice? I could brew it, sure, but the ingredients aren’t exactly cheap or easy to come by,” he pointed out, “Not to mention, it takes a month or more.” </p>
<p>“Leave that to me,” Tonks said languidly, “The ingredients, that is. I can excuse it as needing the practise before the Academy. You leave for Romania in September, and the Auror Academy starts the last week of August - let’s have some fun before we never see each other again.”</p>
<p>Charlie lightly tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “Don’t say shit like that. We’ll still see each other, unless you’re breaking up with my friendship, which would possibly be a worse decision on your part than the time you agreed to take that dare to ask Thorfinn Rowle out to Hogsmeade on <em> Valentine’s Day </em>last year.” </p>
<p>A sudden grimace marred Tonks’ previously peaceful face. “Uncalled for! Don’t remind me of that. Low blow.” It had not been her finest moment. She had been playing Truth or Dare with Charlie’s Gryffindor friends, and Gryffindors played hardcore. Louisa, a 7th Year Gryffindor girl, had dared Tonks to ask a 7th Year Junior Death Eater out to Hogsmeade that weekend. Little known to her, Rowle apparently had the hots for her, and had for years - when she asked him, in the middle of the Great Hall per the dare, he had proceeded to shove his tongue down her throat for several painfully long moments while she fumbled for her wand with which to hex him. She had been the laughing stock of the castle for weeks. It was, indeed, one of her more questionable decisions, but a dare was a dare. </p>
<p>“Then don’t go making silly statements like ‘before we never see each other again,” Charlie retorted, “Of course we will. Have you heard of this thing called International Portkeys? It’s not like either of are going to vanish off the face of the earth - unless, of course, drinking Polyjuice Potion with the hair of a Metamorphagus has that unique side effect, in which case, at least I will have vanished off the face of the earth in the name of SCIENCE.” </p>
<p>At that point, they both collapsed into giggles, and the conversation left its original tracks.</p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Tonks and Charlie had been joined at the hip since the beginning of their first Charms class. The memory made her smile.</p>
<p>
  <em> The only eleven year-old with bright pink hair screwed up her face in concentration as she cast a jelly-legs jinx at the Hufflepuff first year who had been taunting her since that morning. Ever since the Sorting Hat had called out her name the night before - “Tonks, Nymphadora!” her Housemates had taken great pleasure in teasing her about her overly-flowery and generally ridiculous name.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Her father would have said that letting bullies get the better of her with their teasing was only playing into their games, but Tonks was Andromeda’s daughter too, and Andromeda had more often been the bully rather than the victim in her own years at Hogwarts, not to mention a Slytherin. Tonks could hear the voice of her mother in her ear like it was yesterday, although it had been multiple years ago - back when Tonks’ Muggle schoolmates, for Ted had insisted on his witchling daughter attending primary school, had made fun of her mercilessly for being different. “Nym,” her mother said, using the only abbreviation of her daughter’s name that her daughter would accept, “Nym, you can’t let bullies run wild over you. Even the Muggle bullies - don’t ever be a doormat, Nym. It’s never worth it.”  To say that Andromeda encouraged her daughter to violence would have been an erroneous statement, but Andromeda did believe that the best defense was a strong offense.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> The next day at primary school, Tonks had used some of her magic to make herself a little stronger and add muscle onto her frame - not overt magic, and not with a wand, because she could not do either of those yet, and they were illegal - but enough to give her an edge over the Muggle girls at school. She had punched the ringleader of the girls until the girl promised to never make fun of her again. Nymphadora had been in enormous trouble with the teachers, as expected, but her mother was right, in a roundabout way - standing up for herself was worth it.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> With that in mind, eleven year old Tonks had pulled out her Defense textbook until she found a jinx she thought she might be able to learn in one night, and settled on the jelly legs jinx. She had practiced it until she felt semi-confident she could pull it off, and now she hit the boy who had been chiefly leading the taunts against her - which, in her mind, was very un-Hufflepuff like behavior, so much so that she was reconciled to the idea of also behaving in a non-Hufflepuff manner in order to make sure he realized his mistake.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> When she succeeded, and Rodney lay on the ground with his legs not currently working beneath him, her housemates edged away nervously. When Flitwick gave her detention, Tonk did not care - it was to be expected, somewhat. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> What she had not reckoned on was this making her the only person in the class without someone willing to sit in the desk next to her and the hurt that caused. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> And then a ginger Gryffindor boy had barged in, one of the tallest in the year - she knew he was a Weasley - and rushed to sit down beside her. One of his Housemates leaned over from a nearby desk and whispered conspicuously to the boy that would become her best friend, “Watch out, mate, she’s crazy. She jinxed Rodney just for using her name,” he said with an eye roll. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Charlie was unperturbed. “Well, I’m happy to jinx her if she jinxes me, but until then, we’re all set.” He turned to her with his hand outstretched as if to shake hands. “Charlie Weasley, and what’s your name? The one you jinx people over?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Tonks lifted her chin up, her eyes flashing with an unspoken challenge. “I go by Tonks. Call me that and there will be zero jinxing.”  </em>
</p>
<p>Since then, Charlie had been the only person who consistently never called her Nymphadora. Even other people, who called her Tonks on a day to day basis, often slipped up with it - or, in a fit of irritation, called her Nymphadora in a teasing fashion. Charlie never did that. When Charlie teased her about something, it was with something more creative than the name she hated.</p>
<p>In about fourth year, Tonks had asked Charlie about it. He had shrugged his shoulders and answered, “It seems pretty easy to me to call people what they want to be called. It’s no skin off my back.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts/if you liked it/if you have anything you'd like to see!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>